Spokane’s Boat Race Weekend to play ‘Near and Dear’ release show at the Bartlett

“Near and Dear,” the new album from Spokane’s alt-rock trio Boat Race Weekend, is set for release Friday, but it’s already earning buzz.

In a post sharing the first single “Small Spaces,” Mikayla Ketner, with Distinction Music Management, praised the song’s ability to transport listeners.

“The song instantly places you in those moments in some basement watching a band pour their heart and soul out as you can’t help but move your body forward and back taking in the whole thing, feeling the raw emotion flood the room,” she said.

Talking with Sick Snaps about the song, bassist Collin Price said the song is about the feelings that come up when someone is looking for redemption.

“The first verse is about being trapped in self-inflicted small spaces, and the second verse is about rejecting help from the one who knows what we need most to free ourselves,” he said. “The end of the song affirms that we can be set free – individually and as a community – if we allow ourselves to be set free by another.”

Though the album release show will be at the Bartlett on Friday, the trio – guitar/vocalist Evan Kruschke, drummer Jay Orth and Price – decided to pay tribute to another local venue, the Big Dipper, on the album cover.

“The Big Dipper was chosen on purpose because owners Dawson Hoerner and Dan Hoerner have always been incredibly supportive of Boat Race Weekend,” the band said in a statement. “It’s a thank you to them and to the Spokane music scene as a whole for being so supportive over the years.”